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SOLHEIM CUP

September 13, 2019

Juli Inkster

Gleneagles, Scotland, United Kingdom

THE MODERATOR: We've got Captain Juli Inkster, followed immediately by Angel Yin and Ally McDonald. It was quite a day for both sides. Final score right now of three and a half for U.S.A., four and a half for Europe. What are your big takeaways after day one?

JULI INKSTER: No one really ever talks about the half point. And I have to say those two half points at the end were huge. For two rookies to be 4-down with five holes left and to come back and tie, you can't teach that. It's just in your belly. I'm just so impressed with them.

You look at Bronte Law and Carlota, Bronte makes a great putt on 15. Carlota hits two great shots on 16 and then birdies 17, and sometimes you just gotta tip your hat and say that's good golf. And then Lexi just poured it in on 18.

So two huge half points and a huge point by my one rookie and my second time player -- Angel is a second-time player.

So we start off hot and we got a little lukewarm in that middle, but we finished hot. So I'm very pleased with the way the day went, because everybody played. And we had some good matches.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Juli, even though you're a point down, these matches tend to be, to turn on momentum. How important is it that you have momentum or at least got a feel for the momentum going into tomorrow?
JULI INKSTER: Well, we just gotta keep the Europes in our rearview mirror, or our front mirror, so we can see them. You don't want to get too far down. It was looking like we could be two and a half points down.

It's not insurmountable, but you keep gnawing a half a point here and point there and it adds up. So to be only a point down -- you look at all the golf today and we're only a point down. So I'm very pleased with where we're at right now.

Q. The most common question I got on Twitter today was why did Inkster split the Korda sisters?
JULI INKSTER: I love that social media. Well, probably because if they played three rounds together, they'd kill each other. (Laughter.) So they're top players, they're probably the top five or ten players in the world.

There's nothing wrong with splitting them up. I've got two top players with two other top players. So I just felt like probably alternate shot, they really fight for each other. And I feel like that was probably their strongest suit.

So they'll be out there tomorrow together. And I thought -- I asked them: best ball, what do you guys want to do? They go we're fine being split up.

So Lexi and Jessica, that's not a bad pairing. And Brittany and Nelly, I think that's a pretty good pairing, too. So whatever Twitter says, it is what it is.

Q. I know she's sitting right there, but Ally only had a couple of days to mentally prepare for the fact that she was in this thing.
JULI INKSTER: She's from Mississippi. She doesn't think much. (Laughter.) No, go ahead with the question.

Q. Can you just talk about how difficult that is? And she obviously came out and played well today.
JULI INKSTER: You know what, when -- I had to tell Ally she didn't make the team, it was the hardest one I had to tell because I felt like she deserved to be on the team. And then I asked her right there, I said, I need an alternate, would you be willing to go? And she didn't hesitate and said yes.

And then when Stacy called me and said she's having a little back issue, I called Ally and there's this wind. I go are you out hitting balls? She goes, yeah. So when I said, we need you, we need you to come here on Sunday, she says I'll be there.

And just the way the whole thing, the way she prepared. And really, I mean, the way the whole team just embraces her and the way she embraced her role, she just slid right in. I didn't have any qualms about her.

Q. Pace of play came up a lot today. Do you think pace of play was an issue?
JULI INKSTER: Yes, it's painfully slow out there. I know we had maybe a couple on our side that are maybe a little bit slower, but they have a few on their side, too, that are a little slow. So I don't know, I don't know what to do.

Q. Is that surprising with such a small field that it can become this of an issue?
JULI INKSTER: Yeah, but you look at this golf course, it's tough. The wind's blowing. The greens are firm. The ball's not going anywhere. It's cold. I mean, it's not like it's a pitch and putt. It's a tough golf course. And out here every shot counts. Every putt counts.

So it's going to take longer. That's just the way it is. And I mean I thought the way the golf was played today was phenomenal for the conditions. It's hard. It's hard golf.

Q. Does it affect your players when they get put on the clock?
JULI INKSTER: I don't know. I've never been on the clock. (Laughter).

I'm kind of the one who just gets up and hits it. It's a five or a six. Angel, it's a pitching wedge or a sand wedge.

Q. To speak about the pace of play, are you going to speak to your players about it because you don't want them losing holes off the back of getting bad times?
JULI INKSTER: I can, but that's their routine. And I think Lizette had a bad time. But that was the only player that had a bad time out there. She knows she probably has to speed it up a little bit. But I'm not going to say anything.

Q. I have to ask about Danielle. She became such a focal point here. Do you think it affected her today? And do you need to coach her up at all over this?
JULI INKSTER: No. I'll definitely talk to Danielle. I talk to her every night. But I think she's in a good frame of mind. Might have just run into a couple of buzzsaws. I watched a little bit of their match.

But I know they got off to a slow start bogeying the first hole. But I'll definitely talk to them, see where they're at, and see if I need to coach them up.

Q. Sorry to push the pace of play issue, but seemed to a lot of us in here that Lizette getting a slow play penalty for bad time was unfair because there were players on the other side just as slow. I wonder how you feel about that?
JULI INKSTER: It's not fair, because the other players know how to play the game. So my players are playing at their pace. And then when they say we're timing them, they speed up. And that's -- they make a living out of that.

So until we change the rule, they're going to keep doing it. And they know who they are.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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